East Norristown Fire Company responds to the report of dry chemical spill at Mercy Suburban Hospital, East Norriton, Thursday afternoon. A patient, described by staff as “disgruntled,” set off a fire extinguisher in a stairwell and also threatened nurses with apiece of wood. Photo by Rick Kauffman/Times Herald Staff.

EAST NORRITON — A “disgruntled patient” at Mercy Suburban Hospital drew responses from both police and firefighters after setting off a fire extinguisher and threatening nurses with a piece of wood Thursday evening.

According to East Norriton Fire Marshal Frank Ludwig, the patient was on the second floor heart wing and discharged the fire extinguisher starting in a stairwell, eventually covering the entire floor. Several nurses then attempted to subdue him, at which point the patient threatened them with the piece of wood. Eventually, with police assistance, the patient was subdued but not before he broke a window.

“They transferred him over to a secluded wing in the psychiatric ward for now and he is being evaluated,” Ludwig said.

Fumes from the extinguisher set off the hospital fire alarm.

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The six patients in the wing were evacuated to another part of the hospital during the incident, and no injuries were reported, although all those involved will be monitored for the next 24 hours because of the nature of the chemical discharged from the fire extinguisher.

In addition to the fire extinguisher powder on the second floor, cleanup crews also had to check other floors that may have been contaminated during the evacuation..

“As people started to evacuate using the stairwells, smoke got into the stair tower and went from the ground floor all the way up the fifth floor,” Ludwig said. “It’s pretty much covered.”

It remains unclear whether the patient suffers from any type of mental illness, but Ludwig confirmed that he has had “numerous run-ins” with the hospital staff.